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Bariatric success

Bariatric is a Greek based word that arose around 1977 and has come to mean the doctoring of heavy people. As reported in Research News, a study based on the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink found that bariatric surgery as delivered in the UK healthcare system is associated with dramatic weight loss, sustained at least four years after surgery (PLoS Med doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1001925). In type 2 diabetes, it offers the prospect of remission or greatly improved glycaemic control. In a pooled analysis of a Swedish database and two randomised trials (Diabetes Care doi:10.2337/dc15-0575), complete diabetes remission was associated with shorter diabetes duration, lower fasting glycaemia before surgery, and the use of gastric diversion surgery rather than gastric …